First Vice President:                   Rob Monroe, Editor       
Richard Forrester                     2416 Edenbrook Dr.     
Second Vice President:                  Richmond, VA 23228-3040  
Shep Parsons                          rmonroe@richmond.com   
January 2005 PROGRAM

Mike Gorman,

"Richmond Again Taken:
Photographing Richmond, 1858-1865"


8:00 p.m., Tuesday, January 11, 2005, at the
Boulevard United Methodist Church, 321 N. Boulevard,
Richmond, VA (corner of Boulevard and Stuart Ave.) Enter
the basement door on the right side under the front steps.

Many of the most famous images of the fallen Capital of  the
Confederacy  have  never,  until  now,  been placed in their
proper  historical  context.   This  multimedia  talk   will
examine  some  of  the  images taken of Richmond immediately
following the evacuation of the Confederate Government using
new  research to locate and interpret the images.  This talk
will also share some  important  new  discoveries  and  many
extremely rare images.                                      

Mike Gorman is a Richmond-based historian who specializes in
the City of Richmond  during  the  Civil  War.   He  is  the
creator    and    webmaster    of    Civil    War   Richmond
(www.mdgorman.com),  an   online   research   project   that
documents   the   various  sites  and  personalities  within
Richmond during the war.   It  is  his  labor  of  love  and
consists  of  primary and a smattering of secondary accounts
related to Richmond.  This website generates over  300  hits
per  day,  and  has  grown  to  the staggering size of 9,348
individual pages and over 1200 megabytes of information.  He
works  for  the  National  Park  Service  and  is working on
several books in his private time.                          

Summary of December Meeting

At the December meeting of  the  Richmond  Civil  War  Round
Table,   Craig  L  Symonds  gave  an  enlightening  talk  on
Confederate Gen.  Patrick Cleburne.  Symonds admitted  being
"personally  a  great admirer" of Cleburne.  He is not alone
in that  opinion.   In  the  past  decades,  Symonds  noted,
Cleburne has become to the South what Joshua L.  Chamberlain
is to the North.   Unquestionably  brave  and  heroic  as  a
commander,  Cleburne's  visionary  ideas  have  made  him  a
popular figure with contemporary readers.                   

A Protestant raised in County Cork,  Ireland,  Cleburne  was
well  educated  and begrudgingly served in the British army.
In 1850, at  the  age  of  21,  he  immigrated  to  America,
eventually  settling  in  Helena,  Arkansas.  When war broke
out, Cleburne joined the  Confederate  army  to  defend  his
neighborhood  against  what  he  viewed  as "the tyranny" of
Northern rule.                                              

He rose quickly through the ranks,  Symonds  stated,  partly
due to the fact that his experience in the British army made
him familiar with military manuals.   It  was  soon  evident
that Cleburne was a remarkable combat leader and a brilliant
commander.   He  received  plaudits  from  the   Confederate
Congress for his actions in battle.                         

To Cleburne, Symonds explained, "slavery was consequential,"
put forth by Republicans to justify their tyranny.  Cleburne
was  also a realist.  By 1863 he recognized that the war had
become a  numbers  game  and  the  South  could  not  win  a
prolonged  conflict.   Slaves  made up over one-third of the
population of the Confederate States.   The  only  realistic
option for Southern independence, Cleburne concluded, was to
enlist slaves and guarantee their freedom  in  a  reasonable
amount of time.                                             

"Slavery has become a handicap," Cleburne argued.  He called
for the organization of a "brigade of the  most  courageous"
slaves  and suggested arming and drilling as many as 300,000
bondsmen.  He knew such a plan would probably end slavery in
the  South,  but  the action would be worthwhile if it ended
the war.                                                    

There were  political  advantages  to  be  gained  as  well.
English  and French sympathy for the U.S.  would end and the
Republicans would be stripped  of  their  justification  for
war.                                                        

Several  other  leaders endorsed Cleburne's idea, though, as
Symonds noted, many did  so  only  out  of  loyalty  to  the
respected  general.  Others lambasted the proposal, branding
it "revolting to Southern  honor"  and  "nothing  less  than
treason."   When   the   plan   reached  Joe  Johnston,  the
Confederate commander knew the idea  would  be  ill-received
and  ordered it not to be forwarded to Richmond.  A rival of
Cleburne disobeyed Johnston and sent the document anyway.   

At the Confederate capital,  Jefferson  Davis  realized  the
proposal was - as Symonds described it - a political "tinder
box" and repressed any talk on the  subject.   Cleburne  was
never again promoted.                                       

The following year, the 34-year-old commander died leading a
glorious but foolish charge he knew was not  wise.   He  was
killed  only  50  yards  from  the  Union  line at Franklin,
Tennessee.  "He gave his life for a cause he did  not  fully
understand," said Symonds.                                  

Lectures Will Offer Theological View of Civil War 

Four lectures about "The Civil War as a Theological Crisis,"
will be held January 24-26 at Union Theological Seminary and
Presbyterian School of Christian Education  on  Brook  Road.
Professor  of  Christian  Thought  at  Wheaton College, Mark
Noll, an authority on the interaction  of  Christianity  and
culture in the 18th and 19th centuries, will be the speaker.

Noll  will  examine  the  Civil  War  as  a turning point in
Christian thought.  How could readers of the same Bible come
to  such different conclusions resulting in the violence and
destruction of civil war?  There is no charge to attend  the
lectures:  "The  Nature of the Crisis," "The Special Problem
of the Bible and Slavery," "The Crisis Observed from Outside
the  United  States," and "The Meaning of the Crisis Today."
Noll holds a  Ph.D.   in  American  religious  history  from
Vanderbilt  University  and  has  served  as  an  editor for
Christianity Today.  A prolific writer, some of Noll's books
include:  America's  God:  From  Jonathan Edwards to Abraham
Lincoln, The Scandal of the Evangelical  Mind,  and  Turning
Points: Decisive Moments in the History of Christianity.    

Other  notable  guests,  all  graduates  of Union-PSCE, will
speak at various events during the lecture series.  Theodore
J.   Wardlaw,  president  of Austin Presbyterian Theological
Seminary, will preach at worship on Tuesday, Jan.  25 at  11
a.m.   Donald  W.   Shriver,  Jr., former president of Union
Theological Seminary in New York, will speak at the luncheon
on  Tuesday.   Pamela  Mitchell-Legg, professor of Christian
education at Union-PSCE's Charlotte campus,  will  speak  at
the  dinner  Tuesday evening.  Reservations are required for
meals.                                                      

A special feature during the lectures will be a tour of  the
new  American  Civil  War  Center.  The soon-to-be-completed
center at the Tredegar  gun  foundry  in  downtown  Richmond
examines  the  Civil  War  from the distinct perspectives of
African Americans, Northerners and Southerners. Participants
in  the  lectures  may  choose to visit the facility Tuesday
afternoon at 3 p.m.                                         

For  information  on  the  lectures,  registration,  and   a
complete   schedule   of   events,   visit  the  website  at
www.union-psce.edu/sprunt/  or  call   (804)   278-4228   or
1-800-229-2990 ext 228.                                     

Upcoming Events

Wednesday, January 19
Robert E.   Lee  Birthday  Celebration  at  his  birthplace,
Stratford Hall in Westmoreland County.  Free admission and a
lecture,   "Lee's   Inner   Quest,"   at   2   p.m.    Info:
www.stratfordhall.org

Saturday, February 5
"Freedom  Won,"  a  special  program   on   African-American
soldiers  and  civilians  at  Endview  Plantation in Newport
News.  Info: www.endview.org or 757-887-1862.               

RCWRT Monthly Speakers for 2005

Info Sought on Prison Civil War Round Table

Jackson Sasser, a graduate student at  William  &  Mary,  is
working  on  a  history of the Prison Civil War Round Table,
which met in the Virginia Penetentiary from 1962-1989.   Our
Round  Table  was  instrumental in that group's founding and
success.   Mr.   Sasser   would   be   interested   in   any
correspondence  or  records  pertaining to the PCWRT -- most
especially its early years -- and  would  like  to  talk  or
correspond  with anyone who took a real interest in the work
of that group.  He can be reached at  jnsass@wm.edu;  or  at
757-221-7695;  or  at  P.O.  Box 863, Williamsburg, Virginia
23187.                                                      

2005:  Official Business and A Look Ahead
At the December meeting of  the  Richmond  Civil  War  Round
Table,  Bob Krick, Jack Ackerly and Dan Balfour were elected
to the executive board for 2005.  The new year  promises  to
be  another exciting one for RCWRT members.  Speakers in the
coming months include Dr.  James I.  "Bud"  Robertson,  Jr.,
Frank O'Reilly and Hunter Lesser.                           

Membership  dues  for 2005 will be mailed to you in January.
The ides of March - March 15 - will be  the  final  deadline
for 2005 dues.  Why put it off until then?  Pay your dues at
the January 11 meeting, then sit back, relax and  enjoy  the
excellent speakers coming to the Round Table this year.     

Information may be emailed to rmonroe@richmond.com
or
Richmond Civil War Round Table Newsletter
Rob Monroe, Editor     
2416 Edenbrook Dr.     
Richmond, VA 23228-3040